Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

The European Union recently decided that people have a right to be forgotten. The “right to be forgotten” provides Internet users in Europe the advantage to demand the erasure, removal or deletion of sensitive personal information in Google’s online search queries. Is this protection of a person’s privacy or online censorship? Since the ruling, Google has received 40,000 removal requests.

A mechanism for removing false statements seems appropriate, but the EU’s ruling goes too far. In the U.S., most websites that allow individuals to post personal comments refuse to remove them unless ordered by a court. Lawsuits generally take about a year to complete. By that time, the damage caused by the statement has occurred. Fighting false statements on the Internet can difficult for businesses and individuals.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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